From Fossa to the Roof of the World: Frank McCarthy’s Everest Triumph

There is an old saying that no matter where you travel in the world, you are bound to find an Irish man there before you. For Fossa native Frank McCarthy, that bit of folklore became a startling reality just a couple of hundred meters from the roof of the world.

While making his final push toward the summit of Mount Everest in Nepal on May 25, McCarthy encountered a climber on his way down.
It turned out to be a Galway native now living in Seattle. The pair, who were previously acquainted, paused amidst the unforgiving altitude to briefly exchange pleasantries, much like old friends crossing paths on New Street, sharing a quick word about the mammoth task at hand before one continued upward and the other focused on a safe descent.
It was just one of several Irish connections that illuminated a gruelling, high-altitude journey. A few days prior, while resting at Camp 3, McCarthy learned that Tyrone mountaineer Robert Kelso Smith, one of the most experienced Irish climbers to ever tackle Everest, was in the camp zone.

Sticking his head out of his tent, the Kerry man yelled into the thin, frozen air: "Up the Kingdom!" From across the quiet mountain edge, a booming reply echoed back: "For f**k sake, you can't escape a Kerry man!"

The Simulated Mountain in Dubai

Now back in his Dubai apartment where he has lived for many years, normality is slowly returning for the Killarney native, though the scale of his historic achievement is still sinking in. Standing atop the 8,848-meter peak, McCarthy officially became the youngest-ever Kerry native to conquer Mount Everest.
The monumental expedition, however, came together almost by chance. Back in 2013, McCarthy scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, sparking a long-term fascination with the ‘Seven Summits” the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. Earlier this year, he climbed Carstensz Pyramid, the highest point in Oceania.
While on a leave of absence from work during that Oceania trip, his expedition leader was Garrett Madison, one of the world's most accomplished Everest guides with over ten successful summits to his name.
Madison convinced McCarthy that he possessed the physical and mental resilience required for Everest. With a narrow two-month window to prepare for a rapid-ascent expedition, the Fossa man went into hyper-focus.
Part of that rigorous preparation included living out of a specialised hypoxic tent pitched directly inside his Dubai apartment bedroom for over a month. The tent gradually reduced oxygen levels over the weeks to simulate extreme altitude, forcing his body to acclimatise before he even set foot in Nepal.
"I had to ask myself each day: Have I eaten? How many calories did I take in?" McCarthy recalled, reflecting on his meticulous routine. "It required single-minded, almost selfish focus. But I knew that without that preparation work, I wouldn’t be ready."

The Numbing Reality of the Summit

Passing the frozen bodies of failed attempts along the route served as a sobering reminder of the mountain's stakes. Rather than deterring him, it forced a state of hyper-vigilance.
When he finally stepped onto the highest point on earth in the early hours of May 25, the moment brought more relief than celebration.
“The job is only half done, focus switches almost immediately to a safe descent he said. “It is worse on the way down, you can see the drops.”
The descent proved even more demanding, requiring a constant check of harnesses and belts every few paces while staring down steep precipices.
Yet, as the air grew thicker with every downward step, McCarthy felt his cognitive abilities and physical strength rapidly reinvigorate.
The Long Road to Normality
By the time he returned to Base Camp, the physical toll was stark. The gruelling 32-day rapid expedition had cost the former Fossa GAA senior player 13kg in body weight.
“It’s almost like an exaggerated feeling of jet lag , my sleep is still disrupted,” he said
Now, having traded minus-degree mountain gales for the 40-degree heat of Dubai, McCarthy is slowly readjusting to regular life, though he jokes that a few pints of Guinness will be required on his next trip back to Kerry to help restore the lost weight.
“Without looking at the footage and photos, I’d nearly struggle to believe it actually happened myself,” he laughed.